NOTE:
The following information was researched and generously provided to the
NEGenWeb Project by Nancy Hartman.

The Wilson School Cemetery is
located in Section 17 of Wilson
Precinct, 3/10 mile west from the P road and 2 road intersection; north
of the residence at this location. The old schoolhouse there has been
converted into a garage. Look for a grove of trees to the north; large
pine trees are growing in the cemetery. The cemetery had its beginnings
in the 1870s. People began to settle this area somewhat before 1870 and
a number came in 1871 and 1872. It is said to be the oldest public
cemetery in this immediate locality (Wilson Precinct, Colfax County,
Nebraska), near the site of the former Wilson Post Office, established
28 April 1875 and discontinued February 1892.

By 1937 this cemetery adjoined the Wilson School (Dist. No. 20 on
the north).

The book 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEIGH 1887 to 1937, by Mrs. Chas Kuhle,
gave 6 April 1883 as the date of incorporation under the name of Elm
Creek Baptist Church property. On 7 Aug. 2006 I visited the courthouse
in Colfax County and did not find this deed of incorporation. I did,
however, find the Certificate of Organization dated 20 June 1888.
Trustees were Thomas M. Hoppel, Charles M. Bontwell, Henry P. Moore,
Pastor and Moderator J. E. Rockwood, Clerk Anna L. Babcock. (Note:
Charles Mortimer Boutwell was married to Jane Elizabeth (Jeanne)
Babcock. Anna and Jane Babcock were daughters of Lydia Lawrence and
Rev. Calvin J. P. Babcock.)

Also found was the Order of Sale of the Elm Creek Baptist Church
property, filed 6 June 1891 in the District Court of Colfax County,
Nebraska. Date of hearing to ask to sell the property was 18 April 1891.

Rev. Omar J. P. Babcock (otherwise know as Calvin J. P. Babcock)
held the first services in the Wilson School house. Rev. Babcock died
August of 1884 and was buried in the Wilson Cemetery. Two years after
his death the Baptist church was built. Rev. Henry P. Moore took over
after Rev. Babcock. When Rev. Henry P. Moore in 1893 moved back to
Canada, the church disbanded and some members followed him to Canada.

Listed in the Leigh Anniversary book for early graves are:

Tombstone for Levi age 6, s/o J. P. and J. A. Bedrang, (Jacob Peter
Bedrang and Julia Ann Zartman Bedrang). Date of 25 September 1871. (As
of 2003, this large tombstone has not been found.)

Early history of this area tells that Methodist Episcopal services
were held in the early 1870s in the Wilson schoolhouse. The Methodist
Episcopal Church was built on the corner of the John Cushman farm; this
land later belonged to Emil Grotelueschen. In about 1894 the church was
discontinued. The book CRESTON CENTENNIAL HISTORY 1890-1990 tells on
page 41 that in 1904 the Creston Methodist Church purchased the Wilson
Methodist Church building and used the lumber to build a parsonage in
Creston.

A number of these family names are noted in the obituary for Mrs.
Washington Hardy (nee Sophia Culbertson) published 22 March 1935 in the
Leigh newspaper. The Hardys who came from Ohio lived for a short time
in Madrid, Iowa and in 1872 they and other families came to Colfax
County to settle. The Hardys settled 4 miles south of Leigh in Colfax
County. The names of those families who came with them were Louis K.
Walters, Jerry Hatcher, Frank Babcock, Robert Davis McKee, Rev.
Babcock, Henry Bridges, Michael Sattler, Peter Botsch Sr., Harrison
Chamberlain, Henry Kloppel, Peter Zartman, J. D. Bowers, Joe Smith and
James Sayers.

Some of the above families later attended a Lutheran Church so the
cemetery includes Methodists, Baptists and Lutherans. The Peter Botsch
family helped organize St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

On 16 December 2002, Gary and Nancy Hartman visited and read this
cemetery. The cemetery of five acres is in poor condition, with broken
and missing stones, grown up in trees and brush. Open parts are being
mowed for hay.

[Note: Click on link to see picture of stone--taken by Dana Hewett and submitted by Nancy Hartman.]

BEST, George R. and [2] and [3], d. 29 Nov. 1896, 74y/10mo/18d
BROWN, Emma C. and [2], w/o, B.B.F., born 23 Aug. 1847, d. 28 March 1891
SPANHACKE, John F. d. 16 Aug. 1889, age 72y/1mo/21d
WARNER, D.H. 1808-1885 (Daniel H.)
WARNER, Margaret, his wife, 1824-1916 (Lived in Harlan County,
Nebraka at time of death with son Delbert. She was Mrs. Margaret Gool before she married Daniel in Henderson county, Illinois in 1858)

BAKER, Johnny R. s/o George and Elvina Baker, d. 13 Nov. 1881,
9y/3mo/26d "BUDDED ON EARTH TO BLOOM IN HEAVEN"
Step son of
Nathaniel C. EarlDALEY, Methetabel, born in Goshen, N.Y. b. 18 April 1818, D. 17 Nov.
1888 age 70y/6mo/26d. The stone was on the ground and could not be
turned over;
there may be another person buried there. On the 1885 census of
Wilson Pct., Methetabel is listed as Isabel Daley age 67 born N.Y.
with son Jay age 23 born Mi. (She is Mehitable Green widow of Hiram B.
Daley)

Frank Babcock was in an asylum in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was buried
on
those grounds naked and with his ribs broken. His brother Cal
Babcock had him removed from that grave and taken to Wilson for a
proper funeral and burial. The funeral was held on 13 January 1885.
Courthouse records in Colfax County seem to indicate the family sued
the State of Nebraska because of his death.

Dana Hewett reread the stones and did some clean up work during his
visit to the cemetery in 2006. Dana located a few more stones; some
broken and others down and covered with dirt and debris:

The obituary of Mrs. Harriet Bowers, (THE QUILL, 27 Jan. 1899) said
she died Thursday morning at age 87; that she was Methodist and that
she was
buried in the Wilson Cemetery in Wilson Precinct. I would suspect her
husband, John Bowers, born 1811 and who died some time after 1870,
would be
buried here also but no marker was found for this couple.

A lady who went to school from 1937-1947 at the
Wilson School, said during that time there were a lot of stones in
this cemetery up on the north end. Many of the
stones may have been taken from the cemetery and used for other things
and maybe put in washouts in the area.